X.AI LLC v. Ellison
In X.AI LLC v. Ellison, the company behind the AI tool Grok is challenging a Minnesota law, known as HF 1606, that restricts AI tools from creating realistic images that digitally add nudity to pictures of identifiable people. X.AI argues that the law violates the First Amendment because it limits a broad range of protected expression and penalizes platforms for how users might employ AI-generated content.
Woodhull joined the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), the First Amendment Lawyers Association (FALA), in an amicus brief that urges the court to block enforcement of the law while the appeal moves forward. The groups argue that the statute is overly broad because it covers not only harmful, nonconsensual deepfake images, but also consensual images, satire, parody, artistic expression, and nonsexual nudity that are protected by the Constitution.
The brief also argues that Minnesota already has narrower laws that address real harms, such as the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images and harassment. According to the amici, the state could target abusive conduct directly rather than broadly restricting tools and speech that have many lawful uses.
Protecting freedom of expression online is central to our mission. We have a long history of opposing government efforts to censor online expression. We are especially concerned because laws aimed at sexual content often end up restricting lawful speech about bodies, sexuality, and identity.
For Woodhull, this case is about more than AI-generated images. If governments are allowed to broadly restrict emerging technologies in the name of preventing harm, those restrictions can sweep in constitutionally protected speech and create precedents that threaten free expression online.